urn:taro:utexas.cah.01934A Guide to the Ralph Putnam and George Creamer Collection, 1804,
1830-1945Original EAD encoding by Megan Mummey according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing
Instructions. August 2010Finding aid written in English.Februbary 2011added inventory by Hector Rodriguez
Descriptive Summary
Putnam, RalphCreamer, GeorgePutnam, Ralph and Creamer, George
Collection1804,
1830-1945Materials are written in English.95-01210 in. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The
University of Texas at AustinLegal documents, manuscript letters,
broadsides, journals, photographs, pamphlets, and ephemera comprise the Ralph Putnam
and George Creamer Collection, 1804, 1830-1945, and document the Perry, Bryant,
Weems, Putnam, and Creamer families.
Biographical Note

Ralph Putnam, a high school Latin teacher from Denver, created the Ralph Putnam and
George Creamer Collection consisting mainly of historic documents from the Texas
Republic period as well as materials from Unitarian pastor Dr. Alfred P. Putnam,
Ralph Putman’s ancestor. Upon Ralph Putman’s death, his former student, lawyer
George Creamer, settled his estate and took the collection in lieu of payment.
Creamer, a famous Colorado lawyer, who argued in front of the Supreme Court to bring
about the one-man one vote ruling, willed the documents to his nephew Eric Hoffman.
Hoffman donated the collection to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History in
1994.

Mississippi native Daniel Perry III (1791-1869) moved to Texas with his wife Eliza
and two sons Samuel and James in 1832. Shortly after their arrival, Eliza died, and
in 1833 Perry married Louisa Anne Morton. In March 1836, he joined the Texas army as
a captain and organized a company of volunteers from the Fort Bend area. This
company merged with Captain William S. Fisher’s company on March 11. Perry fought in
the battle of San Jacinto, staying with the unit until June 1836, and served in the
Texas Navy during the early 1840s. His wife, Louisa, and two of his children by her
died during the cholera epidemics of the 1840s, and he married Jane Hogue Hamblen in
1851. He worked most of his life as a farmer, rancher, and estate manager.
Additionally, he signed the petition that created Fort Bend County and served as
associate land commissioner and justice of the peace for Fort Bend County. Unable to
work his plantation by himself, Perry and his family moved to Houston following the
Civil War. Perry died in Houston in 1869.

Perry’s only surviving daughter, Laura Ann, married Charles C. Bryant the editor of
the Corpus Christi Caller. Bryant was a Confederate
veteran, who suffered a wound at the Battle of Shiloh under General Bragg. The
couple had several children, including Mary Louise, who married Buck Weems of
Colorado.

Alfred Porter Putnam (1827-1906) was a Unitarian pastor and historian, who founded
the Danver Historical Society. A native of Danver, Massachusetts, Putnam served as
the pastor of Brooklyn’s Church of the Savior for twenty-five years in the late 19th
century. He published historical writings and many of his sermons as pamphlets,
including A Noble Life: A Discourse Commemorative of Abiel
Abbot Low (1893), Singers and Songs of the Liberal
Faith (1875), and A Sermon Preached at the Church
of the Saviour (1865).

The Perry, Bryant, and Weems families’ portion of the collection consists of letters,
commissions, receipts, legal documents, and photographs relating to early Texas
history. Specifically, the collection includes family correspondence, Charles C.
Bryant’s will, and Daniel Perry’s commissions as Justice of the Peace signed by Sam
Houston, Mirabeau B. Lamar, and Anson Jones. The photographs depict various family
members, such as Daniel Perry, Laura Ann Perry Bryant, Charles Carroll Bryant,
Bertha Bryant, and Mary Louise Bryant. Furthermore, the photographs include
carte-de-visites for several famous historical figures, like General T. J. Stonewall
Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Sam Houston. Additionally, the papers contain
genealogies for both the Perry and Weems families as well as a series of forty
letters from Buck Weems to Mary Louise Bryant describing life on the Colorado
frontier in 1905.

The remainder of the collection, relating to the Putnam and Creamer families,
consists of correspondence, manuscripts, printed material, ephemera, and a book. The
Putnam material documents the career and writings of Dr. Alfred P. Putnam, Unitarian
pastor, and Colorado Latin teacher Ralph Putnam. The collection includes Alfred’s
handwritten reminiscences, such as “A Winter On the Riviera,” “From Cairo to
Jerusalem, By Way of Suez, Mt. Sinai, Petra, and Herbron, February 16, 1863 - March
21, 1863,” and “Recollections of Notables at Home and Abroad.” “Recollections” is
particularly notable since it compiles Alfred’s personal recollections of prominent
persons, including President Abraham Lincoln, Senator Charles Sumner, General
Winfield Scott, General John Wool, and others. Additionally, the collection consists
of Alfred’s printed and handwritten sermons, a letter describing a public event in
New York City, and a manuscript constitution and by-laws of the Danvers,
Massachusetts, Historical Society. Ralph Putnam’s material includes several
scholarly papers, a diploma, and a ration book from World War II. The book describes
the life of famous Colorado lawyer George Creamer.

Ralph Putnam and George Creamer Collection, 1804, 1830-1945, Dolph Briscoe Center for
American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Processing Information

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the
National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe
Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.